Chap. VI. AIDED BY WORMS. 277 



to catch the surface drainage from the adjoin- 

 ing hill-side. The bottom of this drain was 

 covered for a distance of several hundred 

 yards, to a depth of from 1| to 3 inches, by a 

 layer of broken castings, still retaining their 

 characteristic shape. Nearly all these in- 

 numerable fragments had rolled down from 

 above, for extremely few castings had been 

 ejected in the drain itself. The hill-side was 

 steep, but varied much in inclination, which 

 Dr. King estimated at from 30 to 60 with 

 the horizon. He climbed up the slope, and 

 " found every here and there little embank- 

 " ments, formed by fragments of the castings 

 " that had been arrested in their downward 

 " progress by irregularities of the surface, 

 "by stones, twigs, &c. One little group of 

 u plants of Anemone hortensis had acted in this 

 4< manner, and quite a small bank of soil had 

 "collected round it. Much of this soil had 

 " crumbled down, but a great deal of it still 

 " retained the form of castings." Dr. King 

 dug up this plant, and was struck with 

 the thickness of the soil which must have 

 recently accumulated over the crown of the 

 rhizoma, as shown by the length of the 



